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Port Adelaide is yet again in the throes of an existential crisis, and the question at its core is the same as it always has been. The Power or the Magpies?
They are the two arms of the same 143-year-old club that represent the dual ambitions of Port Adelaide – to remain the king of South Australian football and to chase glory on the national stage.
The club’s mission statement is clear – ‘We exist to win premierships’. But where? In the SANFL, Port has historically been the dominant force with 36 premierships, eight more than their nearest rivals, Norwood.
Port has always been the big fish in a small pond. That is why, in 1990, the club sought to join the VFL. Port Adelaide wanted to compete at the highest possible level.
The SANFL saw this as a treacherous act, given South Australia’s unanimous reluctance to join forces with the Victorian competition. But so burning was the desire to mix it with the big boys that Port Adelaide broke ranks to try and make it happen.
That parochial tension – state pride and the treasures of the SANFL versus the pursuit of excellence – is at the heart of the latest issue that plagues Port Adelaide.
The Power appears destined to be the only AFL club without a standalone reserve-grade operation next year, despite presenting a model that seems to strike the perfect balance between its responsibilities to the SANFL and the AFL.
The SANFL is on the verge of caving in and allowing reserves teams from the city’s two AFL clubs, after years of resistance, the benefit of having all of the Power and the Crows’ players training and playing together all the time – not splitting off among the nine clubs to play games on the weekend, as is the current practice.
Adelaide will become the SANFL’s tenth team. The Magpies will become Port Adelaide’s second-grade operation. That sounds straightforward enough, but the problem is that the most likely proposal on the table could tear the heart out of Alberton.
The conditions stipulate the destruction of everything that makes Port Adelaide, Port Adelaide – no more underage sides, academies, recruiting zones and community networks.
This is because the SANFL, if it is going to accept reserves teams into the competition, wants the same for both Port and the Crows. In essence, a suburban club with a clear heartland will be reduced to a mere extension of an AFL franchise.
The other eight SANFL clubs are licking their lips at the prospect of picking apart the Magpies carcass and dividing the spoils, fuelled by the 23 years worth of hate bubbling under the surface.
Originally, when Port made the move to join the VFL, it did not want to maintain an SANFL presence. It wanted to completely uproot.
The only reason Port is in the SANFL is because this was part of the license conditions that allowed them to eventually join the national competition in 1997.
The Magpies have been cherished, like before, but as a secondary off-shoot to the real Port Adelaide. Even moreso after the club’s recent reunification – the ‘One Club’ movement.
Port Adelaide’s wonderful alternative model for the Magpies as an AFL reserves team is in this same spirit.
It involves all AFL-listed players turning out for the Magpies, with reduced zones to account for the smaller opportunities for local players.
It would mean a financial return of $600,000 for the other clubs. It would also ensure that Port Adelaide in the SANFL continues to be a meaningful operation, bringing through players from the Port Adelaide area.
But it is being met with stubborn resistance. In response, not wanting to compromise the Magpies, president David Koch last week declared if Port’s requests aren’t met they would maintain the status quo.
Unfortunately, in 2014, that will mean Port Adelaide will be at a huge disadvantage to their 17 AFL rivals in not having a standalone reserves team.
This, just to ensure integrity at SANFL-level.
This is rock and hard place territory. There are clearly bigger fish to fry in the AFL, but after being forced to keep the Magpies around when they originally didn’t want to, they have come to mean so much.
The Power cannot be seen to have killed the Magpies.
That black and white jumper, still running around as a fully-fledged grassroots club against great rivals such as Norwood and Glenelg, is an instant heartwarmer for dyed-in-the-wool supporters.
But is it worth the disadvantage Port Adelaide will have against its AFL rivals?
It’s been the elephant in the room for years. Where do Port Adelaide’s priorities lie? With ambition or nostalgia?
The time has come to decide.
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